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Wednesday, September 16, 2020
'Almost Famous,' A Look at the Film's Most Iconic Costumes
Variety: Two decades after Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” hit theaters for the first time, its story of a rookie music journalist traveling the nation with a band on the brink of stardom remains timeless—as do the costumes, even with their ’70s flair.
3 comments:
Elizabeth P
said...
I haven’t watched Almost Famous for a very long time, but almost every year for Halloween you can count on someone offering up their take on a character’s look. The costume design has become sort of a staple of what 70’s fashion was - although the movie was not made in the 70’s. After looking through all of these examples I realized how important having photographic research is to the costume process. I know that pictures from the time period make everything more accessible - but the fact that they got to talk to the air stewardess, and had a lot of research material to look at seems to be very lucky for this production. I also really liked hearing from the costume designer about how she not only created 70’s looks, but looked to other fashion decades (such as the 30’s) and other fashion trends and how she could translate that to a 70’s look to better represent the character through their costume.
Almost Famous is one of my mom's favorite movies and so I have seen it countless times. The costumes in the movie seem nearly effortless and natural, not as costumes but just clothes the character wear, as they should be. It is very interesting hearing the process behind the iconic costumes in this movie. I found it the thought process fascinating, the designer not only incorporated fashion from the 70s, but inspiration from celebrities or other people, as well as the character's personality. I found the way the characters personality was incorporated especially interesting because it was another outlet of expression for the actor. The costumes are sourced from so many different places, thrift stores, real flight attendants, homemade and so many other places. The sheer amount of time sourcing all of the clothes must have been intensive. I also thought it was very neat the way that some of the costumes had been altered to better fit the character and the movie.
Almost Famous is one of my all time favorite movies, and it’s a little surreal to think that its now 20 years old. While I love the story, I have always been more in love with its costumes and perfectly achieved vintage flair and accuracy. It is so remarkable that nearly all of the costume pieces were essentially handmade or upcycled by Betsy Heimann and her team. You can tell how much love and detail they put into their work with every stitch. I have always been fascinated by how a costume designer is able to track a character’s personality and arch through their clothes, and love how Haimann so brilliantly described her inspiration behind all of her decisions. I particularly love how a costume piece can play into a character’s psyche, like in the case of how Penny Lane feels brave with her fur coat and vulnerable without it. Costumes most definitely can aid an actor’s performance, and Heimann’s work played a huge part in making Almost Famous the timeless piece it is.
3 comments:
I haven’t watched Almost Famous for a very long time, but almost every year for Halloween you can count on someone offering up their take on a character’s look. The costume design has become sort of a staple of what 70’s fashion was - although the movie was not made in the 70’s. After looking through all of these examples I realized how important having photographic research is to the costume process. I know that pictures from the time period make everything more accessible - but the fact that they got to talk to the air stewardess, and had a lot of research material to look at seems to be very lucky for this production. I also really liked hearing from the costume designer about how she not only created 70’s looks, but looked to other fashion decades (such as the 30’s) and other fashion trends and how she could translate that to a 70’s look to better represent the character through their costume.
Almost Famous is one of my mom's favorite movies and so I have seen it countless times. The costumes in the movie seem nearly effortless and natural, not as costumes but just clothes the character wear, as they should be. It is very interesting hearing the process behind the iconic costumes in this movie. I found it the thought process fascinating, the designer not only incorporated fashion from the 70s, but inspiration from celebrities or other people, as well as the character's personality. I found the way the characters personality was incorporated especially interesting because it was another outlet of expression for the actor. The costumes are sourced from so many different places, thrift stores, real flight attendants, homemade and so many other places. The sheer amount of time sourcing all of the clothes must have been intensive. I also thought it was very neat the way that some of the costumes had been altered to better fit the character and the movie.
Almost Famous is one of my all time favorite movies, and it’s a little surreal to think that its now 20 years old. While I love the story, I have always been more in love with its costumes and perfectly achieved vintage flair and accuracy. It is so remarkable that nearly all of the costume pieces were essentially handmade or upcycled by Betsy Heimann and her team. You can tell how much love and detail they put into their work with every stitch. I have always been fascinated by how a costume designer is able to track a character’s personality and arch through their clothes, and love how Haimann so brilliantly described her inspiration behind all of her decisions. I particularly love how a costume piece can play into a character’s psyche, like in the case of how Penny Lane feels brave with her fur coat and vulnerable without it. Costumes most definitely can aid an actor’s performance, and Heimann’s work played a huge part in making Almost Famous the timeless piece it is.
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